NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

INCIDENTS

Fort Smith NHS

Two Fined For ARPA Violations

On December 13, 2012, an NPS special agent was contacted by the park and asked to assist with an Archeological Resource Protection Act violation that had occurred there.

Park maintenance workers had contacted two men - J.W. and C.K., both of Fort Smith - who were reportedly using metal detectors and digging for artifacts on the park's parade ground. Ranger Matt Fry from Pea Ridge NM and officers from the Fort Smith PD responded, identified the two men, and began assessing damage.

Fry and the special agent identified the damage, processed the crime scene, and conducted further investigation into the report. In January, 2013, C.K. and J.W. were interviewed pursuant to the investigation, confessed to the acts, and were identified as convicted felons. The cost of restoration and repair and the archeological value were determined to total $3,678.

Both J.W. and C.K. pleaded guilty and in December 2014 were ordered to pay $1,228 in restitution, fines, and court costs. NPS Archeologist Melissa Baier assisted with the investigation and US Attorney David Ferguson prosecuted the case for the Western District of Arkansas at Fort Smith.

[Investigative Services Branch]

OTHER NEWS

The following stories are among those in today's webpage editions of InsideNPS (available to NPS employees only) and the Morning Report (available to all readers):

Cape Hatteras NS - The famed Ocracoke pony herd at Cape Hatteras National Seashore has a new member - “Hazelnut” - born last Wednesday morning. She becomes the herd's seventeenth member.

Yosemite NP - Last month, Yosemite National Park had the opportunity to assist one of its sister parks, Torres del Paine in Chile, with a complicated and technical bridge building project in the park's backcountry wilderness.

Outer Banks Group - Paul Stevens, chief ranger for the three parks in North Carolina's Outer Banks Group, will be retiring on February 27th after 30 years with the National Park Service.

Investigative Services Branch - Special Agent Tim Alley retired on January 31st following 32 years of service with the NPS. He was one of the agency's first criminal investigators and served as a special agent with the Investigative Services Branch.

To see the full text of these stories, readers should go to one or the other of the following sites:

NPS employees - HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index

Non-NPS employees - HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/" http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/

The Morning Report is produced by the Office of Communications with the support of the Office of the Associate Director for Information Resources. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@contractor.nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@contractor.nps.gov).

--- ### ---